Vehicles such as pick-up trucks having an open cargo area are useful for transporting a wide variety of cargo. However, cargo transported in these type of vehicles is susceptible to environmental exposure. Therefore, various tops, caps, and tonneau covers have been designed to cover the cargo area and limit the ingress of rain, sleet, snow and the like. In addition, the aforementioned covers prevent egress of cargo as the vehicle is being operated.
An example of one such tonneau cover includes a pair of hard panels pivotally interconnected by a transversely extending hinge. In their closed positions, the panels lie flat on top a pair of vertical side walls defining the cargo area. In other examples, the tonneau cover consists of a plurality of panels folding in a manner similar to an accordion, stackable one against the other. However, existing tonneau covers are not without their disadvantages.
One disadvantage relates to the difficulty of securing the tonneau covers to the vehicle. Specifically, some prior art structures require holes to be bored in the vertical side walls or vehicle bed to provide a method of attaching special mounting brackets. Such holes compromise the structural integrity of the truck box and also increase the susceptibility to corrosion over time. In addition, special tools and extra installation time are often required to mount these devices to the vehicles.
As is commonly known, other coupling assemblies exist that do not require the drilling of additional mounting holes. These devices also have their disadvantages. Specifically, many of the existing coupling assemblies fail to adequately secure the covers to the bed which is of particular importance in off-road operation of the vehicle. Conversely, the present invention provides a multi-point retention of the brackets to restrain against longitudinal and transverse displacement. In addition, the present invention takes advantage of the structure of the vertical side walls to position and further restrain the coupling assemblies.
Another disadvantage concerning the prior art devices relates to dividing the cargo area into individual compartments. Most tops or covers simply enclose the cargo area without subdividing it. If a vehicle operator using these devices wishes to segregate different types of cargo, he must make additional accommodations to restrain or tie down the cargo. Conversely, other devices create a separate subdivided compartment within the cargo area. However, these devices are usually solid wall structures that permanently reduce the volume of cargo area available to the operator. Therefore, these structures occupy valuable cargo space when separate compartments are not necessary and a larger cargo area would be beneficial.